San Bernardino attack reinforces concerns over security at workplace events

San Bernardino Attack

The mass gunfire at an employee holiday gathering in San Bernardino has raised the security concerns among event planners at work, marking risk factors that refer to the vulnerability in connection with crowds of this kind.

“With the holidays, I think we forget the usual security measures,” said Joan Eisenstaedt, an event planner in Washington. “We take our safety and security for granted.”

Although it remains unclear whether problems in the workplace had anything to do with the recent San Bernardino attack on the holiday party of the staff of the County Health Department, event organizers expect that the concerned employers might take enhanced security arrangement for similar workplace events in the future.

Ken Wheatley, Founder and Principal Consultant of security services provider Royal Security Group LLC, said even before the shooting, phones were ringing at his office.

“Planners have been calling on the phones, ”he said, mentioning that the recent terrorist attacks in Paris had already increased stress among the organizers of events.“I see a renewed sensitivity to the realities from the global perspective.”

The Washington, DC event planner Eisenstodt said she doubts that extra security measures would have much impact in a deadly attack of this type, allegedly conducted by Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, which left 14 dead — many of them Syed’s colleagues — and 21 injured.

“I think organizers can add security guards,” she said, noting that most of them would possibly be unarmed, which could cap their effectiveness. “Frankly, I do not think anything could have stopped the San Bernardino assault.”

Wheatley agreed that lessening the risk of attacks like the one which took place in San Bernardino is quite difficult, because even the thorough security and protocols usually wouldn’t apply to employees.

In spite of these concerns, industry experts assume that there would be no mass postponement or cancelations of planned holiday activities, arguing for the benefits of building the morale of such parties.

“It is one of the last remaining socialization in corporate America,” said Dale Winston, chairperson and CEO of Battalia Winston, a headhunting firm.

“One of the major factors that tie people in the workplace true friendships,” said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm. Parties are not only a way thank people, but they also frame friendship among the coworkers and enhance the bond with the companies.”

In the present polarized world, however, human resources experts say parties are needed for employers to balance the desires and sensitivities of the diverse workforce worldwide.

“We are a very inclusive country. At the same time, it’s divisive as well,” Winston said.

While some employers and employees prefer to leave meetings to have a religious affiliation — such as the recent controversy regarding the Starbucks holiday cup — experts say that companies can’t distant workers from various religious faiths, if they want to remain competitive.

“These faults prevail in our society, and reflect or manifest in the workplace like in any other community,” said Challenger. “Companies have logical interest to listen to those voices and resolve issues in order to retain talents.

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